Abstract
Many terrestrial ecosystems are nutrient limited. Koerselman and Meuleman (1996) proposed critical foliar N:P values that could predict wetland nutrient deficiencies (N:P < 14, N limitation; N:P > 16, P limitation). Although critical N:P values have potential as ecological and diagnostic tools, species differences in N and P requirements must be tested. The objectives of our experiments were 1) to determine if two desert species share critical N:P values, and 2) to assess the N:P tool's applicability in a non-wetland system. We studied two common, co-occurring North American desert shrubs, Chrysothamnus nauseosus spp. consimilis and Sarcobatus vermiculatus. Based on leaf N and P concentrations, effective mycorrhizal status, and leaf N:P, we predicted Chrysothamnus would be N limited and Sarcobatus would be P limited. During the 2000 and 2001 growing seasons, juvenile shrubs received N, P, N+P, or control treatments. To assess interaction with water limitation, other shrubs were irrigated and fertilized in 2001 (N+IR, P+IR, N+P+IR, control IR). Contrary to the predicted N limitation in Chrysothamnus, stem growth was 1.7-fold greater in P+IR plants relative to IR controls, although without irrigation Chrysothamnus did not respond to P addition. Also, contrary to the predicted P limitation in Sarcobatus, stem growth was 2.7-fold and 1.5-fold greater in N and N+IR plants, respectively, relative to their controls. Leaf N was significantly higher in N-treated Sarcobatus, both with and without irrigation. Our study suggests species-specific critical N:P values and that the N:P tool does not effectively predict desert shrub nutrient limitations. Species adapted to low nutrient conditions may not respond to increased nutrient availability due to water and nutrient co-limitation, lack of plasticity, or lower tissue nutrient requirements.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aerts R Wallén B and Malmer N 1992 Growth-limiting nutrients in Sphagnum-dominated bogs subject to low and high atmospheric nitrogen supply. J. Ecol. 80, 131–140.
Aerts R and Chapin III F S 2000 The mineral nutrition of wildland plants re-visited: a re-evaluation of processes and patterns. Adv. Ecol. Res. 30, 1–67.
Archer S and Pyke D A 1991 Plant-plant interactions affect plant establishment and persistence on revegetated rangelands. J. Range Man. 44, 550–557.
Bauder E T and Larigauderie A 1991 Rehabilitation success and potential of Mohave and Colorado Desert sites. Final Report to Department of Parks and Recreation, Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division, Sacramento, CA. 77 pp.
Beaufils E R 1971 Physiological diagnosis-a guide for improving maize production based on principles developed for rubber trees. Fert. Soc. of S. Afr. J. 1, 1–28.
Bennett L T and Adams M A 2001 Response of a perennial grassland to nitrogen and phosphorus additions in sub-tropical, semi-arid Australia. J. Arid Environ. 48, 289–308.
Chapin III F S 1980 The mineral nutrition of wild plants. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 11, 233–260.
Chapin III F S 1988 Ecological aspects of plant mineral nutrition Adv. Min. Nutr. 3, 161–191.
Clewell A and Rieger J P 1997 What practitioners need from restoration ecologists. Rest. Ecol. 5, 350–354.
Donovan L A and Richards J H 2000 Juvenile shrubs show differences in stress tolerance, but no competition or facilitation, along a stress gradient. J. Ecol. 88, 1–16.
Donovan L A Richards J H and Muller M W 1996 Water relations and leaf chemistry of Chrysothamnus nauseosus ssp. consimilis (Asteraceae) and Sarcobatus vermiculatus (Chenopodiaceae). Amer. J. Bot. 83, 1637–1646.
Donovan L A Richards J H and Schaber E J 1997 Nutrient relations of the halophytic shrub, Sarcobatus vermiculatus, along a soil salinity gradient. Plant Soil 190, 105–117.
Donovan L A Grisé D J West J B Pappert R A Alder N N Richards J H 1999 Predawn disequilibrium between plant and soil water potentials in two cold-desert shrubs. Oecologia 120, 209–217.
Donovan L A Richards J H Linton M J 2003 Magnitude and mechanisms of predawn plant and soil water potentials. Ecology 84, 463–470.
Drenovsky R E 2002 Effects of mineral nutrient deficiencies on plant performance in the desert shrubs Chrysothamnus nauseosus spp. consimilis and Sarcobatus vermiculatus. Ph.D. thesis, University of California, Davis. 102 pp.
Drenovsky R E and Richards J H 2003 High nitrogen availability does not improve salinity tolerance in Sarcobatus vermiculatus. West. N. Amer. Nat. (in press).
Ettershank G Ettershank J A Bryant M and Whitford W G 1978 Effects of nitrogen fertilization on primary production in a Chihuahuan Desert ecosystem. J. Arid Environ. 1, 135–139.
Fisher F M Parker L W Anderson J P and Whitford W G 1987 Nitrogen mineralization in a desert soil: Interacting effects of soil moisture and nitrogen fertilizer. Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. J. 51, 1033–1041.
Fisher F M Zak J C Cunningham G L and Whitford W G 1988 Water and nitrogen effects on growth and allocation patterns of creosotebush in the northern Chihuahuan Desert. J. Range Man. 41, 387–391.
Grime J P 1993 Stress, competition, resource dynamics and vegetation processes. In Plant Adaptation to Environmental Stress. Eds. L Fowden, T Mansfield, and J Stoddart. pp. 45–63. Chapman and Hall, London.
Gutiérrez J R and Whitford W G 1987 Chihuahuan Desert annuals: Importance of water and nitrogen. Ecology 68, 2032–2045.
Gutiérrez J R DaSilva O A Pagani M I Weems D and Whitford W G 1988 Effects of different patterns of supplemental water and nitrogen fertilizer on productivity and composition of desert annual plants. Amer. Mid. Nat. 119, 336–343.
Gutiérrez J R 1992 Effects of low water supplementation and nutrient addition on the aboveground biomass production of annual plants in a Chilean coastal desert site. Oecologia 90, 556–559.
Hooper D U and Johnson L 1999 Nitrogen limitation in dryland ecosystems: responses to geographical and temporal variation in precipitation. Biogeochemistry 46, 247–293.
Ingestad T 1979 Nitrogen stress in birch seedlings. II. N, K, P, Ca, and Mg nutrition. Phys. Plant. 45, 149–157.
James D W and Jurinak J J 1978 Nitrogen fertilization of dominant plants in the northeastern Great Basin Desert. In Nitrogen in Desert Ecosystems. Eds N E West and J J Skujiņš. pp. 219–231. Dowden Hutchinson and Ross, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.
Jones Jr J B 1993 Modern interpretation systems for soil and plant analysis in the United States of America. Austr. J. Exp. Ag. 33, 1039–1043.
Klubek B Eberhardt P J and Skujiņš J J 1978 Ammonia volatilization from Great Basin Desert soils. In Nitrogen in desert ecosystems. Eds N E West and J J Skujiņš. pp. 107–129. Dowden Hutchinson and Ross, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.
Koerselman W and Meuleman A F M 1996 The vegetation N:P ratio: a new tool to detect the nature of nutrient limitation. J. Appl. Ecol. 33, 1441–1450.
Lajtha K 1987 Nutrient reabsorption efficiency and the response to phosphorus fertilization in the desert shrub Larrea tridentata (DC.) Cov. Biogeochemistry 4, 265–276.
Lajtha K and Schlesinger W H 1988a The biogeochemistry of phosphorus cycling and phosphorus availability along a desert soil chronosequence. Ecology 69, 24–39.
Lajtha K and Schlesinger W H 1988b The effect of CaCO3 on the uptake of phosphorus by two desert shrub species, Larrea tridentata (D.C.) Cov. and Parthenium incanum Hbk. Bot. Gaz. 149, 328–334.
Lambers H Chapin III F S and Pons T L 1998 Plant Physiological Ecology. Springer, New York. 540 pp.
Ludwig F de Kroon H Prins H H T and Berendse F 2001 Effects of nutrients and shade on tree-grass interactions in an East African savanna. J. Veg. Sci. 12, 579–588.
Ludwig J A Whitford W G and Cornelius J M 1989 Effects of water, nitrogen and sulfur amendments on cover, density and size of Chihuahuan Desert ephemerals. J. Arid Environ. 16, 35–42.
Marschner H 1995 Mineral Nutrition of Higher Plants. Second edition. Academic Press, London. 889 pp.
Messina F J Durham S L Richards J H and McArthur E D 2002 Trade-off between plant growth and defense? A comparison of sagebrush populations. Oecologia 131, 43–51.
Mun H T and Whitford W G 1989 Effects of nitrogen amendment on annual plants in the Chihuahuan Desert. Plant Soil 120, 225–231.
Nobel P S Quero E and Linares H 1989 Root versus shoot biomass: responses to water, nitrogen, and phosphorus applications for Agave lechugilla. Bot. Gaz. 150, 411–416.
Noy-Meir I 1973 Desert ecosystems: environment and producers. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 5, 25–51.
Padgett P E Allen E B Bytnerowicz A and Minich R A 1999 Changes in soil inorganic nitrogen as related to atmospheric nitrogenous pollutants in Southern California. Atm. Env. 33, 769–781.
Redfield A C 1958 The biological control of chemical factors in the environment. Am. Sci. 46, 206–226.
SAS Institute 2001 SAS/STAT user's guide. Version 8. SAS Institute, Cary, North Carolina.
Schimel D S and Parton W J 1986 Microclimatic controls of nitrogen mineralization and nitrification in short-grass steppe soils. Plant Soil 93, 347–357.
Schlesinger W H 1997 Biogeochemistry: An Analysis of Global Change, Second Edition. Academic Press, London. 588 pp.
Smith F W and Loneragan J F 1997 Interpretation of plant analysis: concepts and principles. In Plant Analysis: An Interpretation Manual. Eds. D J Reuter J B Robinson and C Dutkiewicz. pp. 1–33. CSIRO Publications Collingwood, Victoria.
Smith S D Monson R K and Anderson J E 1997 Physiological Ecology of North American Desert Plants. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. 286 p.
Snyder K A Donovan L A James J J Tiller R L and Richards J H 2003 Extensive summer water pulses do not necessarily lead to canopy growth of Great Basin and northern Mojave Desert shrubs. Oecologia (in press).
Toft C A 1995 A 10-year demographic study of rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus nauseosus): growth, survival and water limitation. Oecologia 101, 1–12.
Toft C A and Elliott-Fisk D E 2002 Patterns of vegetation along a spatiotemporal gradient on shoreline strands of a desert basin lake. Plant Ecol. 158, 21–39.
Tupper G J 1978 Effects of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers and gypsum on a Danthonia caespitosa-Stipa variabilis grassland. I. Response to fertilizer application over four successive years. Austr. J. Exp. Ag. 18, 253–261.
Van den Driessche R 1974 Prediction of mineral nutrient status of trees by foliar analysis. Bot. Rev. 40, 347–394.
van Duren I C and Pegtel D M 2000 Nutrient limitations in wet, drained and rewetted fen meadows: evaluation of methods and results. Plant Soil 220, 35–47.
Whitford WG and Gutiérrez J R 1989 Effects of water and nitrogen supplementation on phenology, plant size, tissue nitrogen, and seed yield of Chihuahuan Desert annual plants. Southwestern Nat. 34, 546–549.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Drenovsky, R., Richards, J. Critical N:P values: Predicting nutrient deficiencies in desert shrublands. Plant and Soil 259, 59–69 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:PLSO.0000020945.09809.3d
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:PLSO.0000020945.09809.3d